This invention relates to a method of producing a moisture-insensitive molded leather holster capable of holding a sidearm or other holsterable item in the holster without the necessity for keeper straps, fasteners, or the like.
Sidearms are normally carried in a leather holster mounted on a waist belt or on a shoulder harness depending upon the desires of the user. The holster should be capable of holding the sidearm or the like and yet readily releasing it when the user wishes it. These two requirements are somewhat conflicting in that the user may wish to draw the sidearm quickly when it is needed but, on the other hand, wishes it to be held securely in the holster until it is needed. In the past holsters have been equipped with cover flaps, restraining straps, snaps, and other types of safety latches which hold the sidearm in the holster without regard to the movements and activities of the user or the positioning of the holstered item. The only difficulty with such keeper means is that they must be unfastened before the holstered item can be removed and such a delay in time may be critical to the user.
Many attempts have been made to mold the leather of the holster to fit the implement being holstered, e.g. a sidearm, by molding the leather to fit the holstered item. The leather is adaptable to molding operations and takes the shape, in general, of the holstered item without difficulty, but the shape disappears when the holster is subjected to moisture. There have been other attempts to avoid this difficulty with leather by attempting to make holsters from moisture-insensitive materials such as metal, plastic, etc. While this may solve the problem of shape retention it is not acceptable to the user because the feel, wearing comfort of and other desirable qualities of leather cannot be substituted with other materials.
In my copending patent application Ser. No. 954,351 filed Oct. 25, 1978 U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,741, there is a disclosure of a front opening holster made of a laminate of a thick central layer of plastic and two thin outside layers of leather. This holster has a molded shape to conform generally to the shape of the sidearm carried in the holster, but it will not permit the sidearm to be withdrawn in any direction except from the front opening. The molded sides of this holster are rigid, and it is only by flexing the back seam of the holster that the three open sides will spread apart enough to permit the weapon to be withdrawn.
It is an object of this invention to provide a leather holster which is molded to fit the contours of the holstered item and thereby provide means for retaining the holstered item in the holster by friction alone, and at the same time, to provide a holster which retains its molded shape in the presence of moisture. It is another object of this invention to provide such a holster for a sidearm. It is still another object of this invention to provide such a holster for other holsterable items such as handcuffs, tools, etc. Still other objects will appear from the more detailed description of this invention which follows.